State-ranked Swedes advance

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 November 2010 23:20
Written by Deb Egenberger
Wednesday, 03 November 2010 23:17

Gothenburg beats Gibbon in first round.

Focus and adjust.

Those are two key words for the Swede football team as the boys head into the second round of the Class C-1 state playoffs after defeating Gibbon 40-12 Thursday night.

“I felt like we were in control the majority of the time,” Gothenburg coach Craig Haake said of the first-round win last week. “Gibbon had a couple of turnovers and kind of panicked. They gave us a short field and we took advantage of it.”

The trick from here on out, Haake said, will be getting his players to concentrate for the entire game.

“We’re still having a little trouble with that,” he said, noting the Swedes’ 12 penalties resulting in 80 lost yards against the Buffaloes.

“We were up 23-0 and allowed Gibbon to get a first down on the next drive,” the coach said. “Then we jumped off-sides and gave them two more penalties in that drive. We’ve got to be able to eliminate those kinds of mistakes.”

The Swedes have had three games this season in which they racked up 100 yards or more in penalties alone.

“That’s not the kind of record we want to set,” Haake said.

But despite the setbacks, the Swedes rolled over the Buffaloes with only a little resistance.

It did take some time to get going, though.

The Swedes didn’t score their first points until freshman Trent Long kicked a 10-yard field goal with three minutes to go in the first quarter.

In Gibbon’s next series, Tanner Schwanz intercepted a pass by Buffalo quarterback Keefer Michel and returned it to the Gibbon 26 yard line.

Two plays later Gothenburg junior Tyler Aden scored on 15-yard run. Long’s PAT kick put the Swedes up 10-0 with 1:37 to go in the first period.

Swede senior Aaron Lauer snagged a fumble recovery two plays into Gibbon’s next possession setting up Gothenburg’s next scoring drive.

Starting at the 15 yard line, Swede sophomore Logan Sheets had a couple of 5-yard carries to take Gothenburg to the 5.

Quarterback Jackson Graham marched in on the first play of the second quarter to give the Swedes a 16-0 lead after Long’s PAT kick sailed right.

Gothenburg held Gibbon to three-and-out and scored again three minutes later on an 11-yard run by Aden.

“Our off-tackle veer play was pretty successful,” Haake said. “The majority of Tyler’s yards came from that set.”

Gibbon held onto the ball much of the remaining nine minutes of the first half but was unsuccessful in scoring.

Even when the Buffaloes had three tries from inside the 10 yard line with only a handful of seconds to play before halftime, the Swedes held them out to lead 23-0 at halftime.

“That goal-line stand before half was huge,” Haake said.

Gothenburg held the Buffaloes out again to start the second half and managed a 32-yard field goal by Long with 6:50 on the clock.

Once more with just over two minutes to play, Aden punched it in from 2 yards out and Long kicked the PAT to put the Swedes up 33-0.

Gibbon finally got on the board at the start of the fourth period when Michel capped a 60-yard drive with a 1-yard scoring run. The Swedes blocked the PAT kick attempt and Gothenburg held a 33-6 lead.

Four penalties in one possession by Gothenburg halted the Swedes’ progress

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